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52 Steps: Week Fourteen

52 Steps: Week FourteenI don’t know how I missed it for thirteen weeks, but Comic Book Resources has an excellent series of columns on DC’s “52.”

Written, by Justin Eger, it’s a weekly recap of the latest issue, complete with comment and perspective from a very astute reader of comics even a “Panel of the Week.”

From the latest update: The Metal Men have had a load of continuity and ret-cons because despite their less than stellar success, they are an inexplicable favorite with DC’s writers… ah, who am I kidding, everyone loves them. Just for not very long. They’re kind of a one trick pony. They started out as a scheduling mistake. In 1962, The Atom was appearing in “Showcase.” He was given his own book and there was nothing planned for issue #37 of “Showcase.” “Showcase” was just that, a showcase for new ideas to see if they could carry a book. So, Robert Kanigher knuckled down and scripted the first Metal Men story over a weekend. Ross Andru and Mike Esposito handled the art and they killed off the team in the first story because they figured there would never be a second. Someone up the chain thought they had a chance and asked for three more issues. Issue #38 showed Doc Magnus scavenging for the robots’ parts (especially the responsometers that gave them personalities). Basically the Metal Men died at the end of each issue to be resurrected in the next – this went on for years.